


Wash It Away

by endemictoearth



Series: Rave AU [2]
Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Rave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4306485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endemictoearth/pseuds/endemictoearth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rae sneaks off from Finn's place, Finn gets ready to go the debrief at the chippy and gets some advice from his dad before facing the gang . . . and Rae.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wash It Away

John rubbed his eye and croaked, “What time is it?” peering at his bedside clock with an exaggerated squint. He really needed glasses.

Finn opened the door and sighed. “Half-eight.” He held the plate with toast he’d meant for someone else in front of him like an offertory.

“You’re up already? Thought you’d still be sleepin’ off las’ night.” John sat up and scratched his head, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah, sorry if I woke ya.” Finn said, trying but failing to keep the mournful note out of his voice.

John yawned and took the plate from Finn’s hand. “’S’alright. Did ya see if Rae wanted anythin’?” He shrugged and took a big bite from a slice.

Finn cleared his throat, looking away. “Um, well. I sorta made this for her, but … she snuck out before I could give it her.”

John stopped chewing for a second and frowned at the toast. That a couple slices of bread should represent such hope was both comical and sad. “She didn’t say anythin’ before she left?”

Finn shook his head slowly, gazing intently at the floor.

John sighed and set the plate on his night stand, motioning for Finn to sit next to him on the edge of the bed. “It prob’ly don’t mean anythin’. She woke up in a strange house, after a strange night, maybe she jus’ wanted to get home. Isn’t her mum gettin’ married today?”

“Yeah. Yeah, she is.”

“So, maybe she jus’ didn’t wanna wake ya up … don’t read too much into it, lad. Don’t imagine ya know what she’s thinkin’. I—no good comes from assumin’ things. Jus’ trust me on tha’ one, alrigh’?” He clapped a hand on Finn’s shoulder, and said, “This toast’s gettin’ cold. How about a fry up?”

“We’re s’posed to meet at the chippy for breakfast. Were my idea to have a debrief; I hafta go.” Finn looked and sounded miserable.

“Maybe Rae’ll be there, too!”

Finn narrowed his eyes at his father, clearly unconvinced. 

“Well, you won’t know if ya don’t go.”

“Sounds like a lame advert for Butlins.” Finn scoffed, but stood up to go.

“That’s a good lad,” John smiled at Finn as he trudged to the hallway. “Oh, and Finn?” Finn leaned into the doorframe and looked at him over his shoulder. “Y’should change. Shower, and change. Jus’ trust me. Sometimes a rinse is all ya need to change your whole perspective.”

Finn sighed, but nodded. A moment later, John heard the water running in the hall bath and he smiled as he slid back under the covers, hoping for another hour of sleep.

* * *

Taking the shower was a good idea. He would have just stomped down to the chippy in his stale clothes and foul mood, but washing last night away and getting dressed in clean clothes significantly improved his outlook on things. Maybe she DID just need to get home to help her mum. He’d go to the reception, like planned, and hope he could talk to her there.

However, cleaning up slowed him down and by the time he got to the chippy, he saw Archie pushing the door open and raising his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, even though he was wearing shades. When he caught sight of Finn, he started apologizing before Finn could say a word.

“Hey, mate, I’m really sorry, but if I sat in there for another second, smelling all that food, I was gonna vomit. Think Chop’s about to bail, too.”

Finn held his breath for a minute, nodding. “Is Rae in there?”

Archie shook his head, and then stopped himself and held his hand to his temple, trying to steady his brain in his skull. “No, sorry. Chlo is, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of Izzy since she was locking lips with Kendo. Right after that, I saw two girls making out with a guy in a zebra mask.” Archie started to laugh, but stopped and swallowed thickly. “I swear everyone at the rave kissed someone they regret.”

Finn tensed up. Shit. Chloe. And was Archie trying to say he regretted kissing Rae? Or that she regretted kissing Archie? Archie seemed too hungover to have an ulterior motive, so Finn just shrugged. “Lotsa booze and pills. Mistakes’re bound to be made.”

Archie tipped his head forward slowly. “Yeah. Think I even planted one on ol’ Raemundo. We were off our faces! Luckily, she’s a mate, so she knew it didn’t mean ought.” Finn bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling. “Anyway,” Archie continued. “I’ve gotta sleep this off. I feel like someone’s taken a piss on my soul.”

Archie patted Finn on the shoulder as he shuffled past. “See ya later, mate.”

Finn turned his head to shout after his friend. “Take a shower, Arch! It’ll help!” Archie pause to wince, but nodded as he kept walking away.

Finn glanced in the window of the chippy and saw Chloe and Chop sitting on opposite sides of the table. Chloe was jiggling her leg nervously under the table, and Chop and leaned forward to slump over his arms. Finn sighed. Chloe. He hoped she wasn’t waiting for him. It was only a drunken kiss. Like Archie said, they were off their faces. Still, Finn deeply regretted letting Chloe stand in for the kiss he wished he’d had. The chance he wished he’d taken. He was about to go in and join her and Chop, when he saw someone in the corner of his vision.

Rae was coming down the street from the other direction. She stopped in her tracks and he could have sworn she almost turned to walk away, but she must have known she’d been spotted. She took a deep breath and forged ahead, one hand gripping the strap of her backpack tightly.

“Mornin’,” Finn ventured, trying to sound casual. “I was wonderin’ where ya’d got to. Y’alright?”

Rae nodded. “Yeah. Sorry about sneakin’ out. It were dead good of you to … take care o’ me. I’m sorry I’m—I was so much trouble.”

“Y’ain’t any trouble, Rae. I jus’ thought … well, I was glad to help ya out.”

“Yeah, I had to … I had to do somethin’ this mornin’.”

“For your mum’s wedding?”

“Um, yeah … no, not exactly.” 

Finn was confused, but didn’t want to press Rae for details. She seemed … off. “Oh, well … that’s okay. I mean, it doesn’t matter why ya left, jus’ sorry ya didn’t get to try my special breakfast recipe.”

Rae broke out of her reverie to smile. “Oh, yeah, what’s that?”

“I make a mean slice of toast. I can do white, wheat, or wholemeal. And my butter spreadin’ technique is the talk of the county.”

“Y’don’t say …”

“The things I can do with a pot of jam … prob’ly shouldn’t even utter them aloud.”

Rae giggled; her cheeks flushed. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Well … maybe you’ll get another opportunity to try my fantastic … toast.” He looked down. It was ridiculous, but he hoped that so much; he was sure his face betrayed him. 

They stood there, not saying anything, for a long moment. Finn was about to reach out and grab Rae’s hand to write a message, not trusting his voice, when the chippy door swung open again, the bell ringing and staying his hand. 

Chop croaked, “‘Ey, Raemundo! Y’alright?”

Rae nodded. 

“That makes one of us, then.” Chop coughed and waved as he headed down the street. “Can’t hang about, Finn. I need a shower and shitload of peppermint tea. See yas later, yeah?”

Finn and Rae nodded in unison, and then Chloe sidled up next to Finn. “Mornin’!” she chirped, threading her hand through the crook of his arm. Finn jumped back and then made as if he had to tie his shoe. As he did, Chloe glanced at Rae. “Mornin’, Rae. How was your night? Where’d you get to? Last I saw, you were snogging Archie, right?”

Rae shook her head, but as realization dawned, “Oh, shit, yeah. I think that was when the pill really kicked in. We were talkin’ about college and hangin’ out and then, I dunno. It was, like, we high-fived with our mouths. So weird.”

Finn looked up at her from his crouched position on the ground and saw her shaking her head disbelievingly. That clinched it; their kiss didn’t mean anything. Time for him to speak up. “Yeah, Arch said something. Said he thought everyone last night probably kissed someone they regretted. Like, just ‘cause they wouldn’t’ve if they’d been sober or whatever.” Chloe studied her shoes intently. He took a deep breath and spit it out. “Like, I’d never’ve kissed Chloe if I weren’t pissed. I mean, you should never really kiss someone unless you really mean it, you know?” He looked at Chloe. “I mean, I’m sure you regret it, too, right?”

Chloe nodded quickly. “Yeah, totally! There were much fitter blokes I could’ve snogged.” She flashed the two of them a smile, and then focused in on Rae’s face, seeing how she looked at Finn. Then she looked to Finn, who immediately broke her gaze to look at Rae. Chloe cleared her throat. “Um, well, think I’ll head home. Need to get some beauty sleep and get ready for the reception.” She took a step past Finn, then paused to ask them both, “I’ll see ya there later, yeah?” 

Rae and Finn were still staring at one another, but Chloe’s words seemed to penetrate their fog of silence. “Yeah, definitely,” Finn murmured as Rae agreed, “Absolutely.”

As she walked away, Finn glanced at his watch. Half ten. How could his whole outlook change so much in two hours? 

“Just gone half-ten,” he said. 

Rae just nodded.

“Fancy some toast?”


End file.
